High Expectations and Other Post-Election Thoughts

by Scott Hall

On a taxi ride recently, I asked the young driver how his business was doing.

"It's slow", he said, "but it's going to get better next year."

"Really, what makes you think so?", I asked.

"Obama", he said. ("Wow!, that's high expectations", I thought.)

"Hope you're right", I said. I hope he is right. And I wish I were that charged up and optimistic.

The day after the election this response came to KAXE from a posting by Birdie Lyons on the Cass Lake e-democracy forum:

Wow! I am a simple 55 years young and I have seen much history in those
short years but I never thought I would see the day we would have a
president that was not white, let alone a black president. I spent most of
my time in Oklahoma as a youth in the boarding schools and I use to run away
to the 'shanty' town for protection.

Back then the south was still very segregated and the shanty towns were so named because they were communities where only black people lived. I was there when it use to say "whites only" on signs in front of stores and that was as recent as the early 60's! When the store signs said "blacks forbidden" that meant Natives too.

I was stunned to hear Obama mention the 'Native Americans' in his speech
last night and I made sure I heard it because the news station will never
let that be heard again unless they air the whole speech again.
I wonder what this man's presidency will hold for the Native people of this
country. This country was built on the white values and it remains a white,
black, Latino, Asian and finally Native country. We are always last on the
ladder but hey! that keeps us closer to Mother Earth or more grounded in our
values and lives, right?